China, Russia begin joint naval exercises

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhuanet) -- China and Russia have begun their first ever joint naval exercises. The war games are taking place in the Yellow Sea and are scheduled to run until April 27th.

China has deployed 16 ships and two submarines for the drill. This includes five missile destroyers, five missile frigates, four missile boats, a support vessel and a hospital ship. They’ll be accompanied by 13 aircraft and five shipboard helicopters.

The Russian contingent, four warships from their Pacific Fleet plus three supply ships, left their home port in Vladivostok on April 15. They are being led by ’Varyag’, the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

China says the exercise will focus on joint maritime air defense, anti-submarine tactics, maritime search and rescue as well as joint efforts to rescue hijacked vessels. The two navies will also deploy aircraft and special force units to conduct joint maritime anti-terror drills during the exercise.